The new spanking Archos 7 is now priced and available. The gigantic 320GB is priced 549 euros ($804) while the smaller 120Gb version is only 499 euros ($731). For a touchscreen, Web TV-, WiFi-, and GPS-enabled PMP with optional accessories like a DVR station you’re definitely getting what you will be paying for it. Archos did really well on the new 5 and 7 PMPs. They are sleek, well-priced (not the cheapest, by any means, but very fair in terms of the features you’re getting) and coming with one of the best screens, codec support, and now the biggest storage, for any PMP in the market today.
September 26th, 2008 at 7:29 am
[...] [GenMP3] [PMP Today] [...]
September 26th, 2008 at 11:21 am
No mention of how much extra you have to pay for the codecs, browser, battery charger to make the device usable. Why is this? Shouldn’t you be metioning this rather than saying how great it is? Great if you fork out another $100 or so, pretty poor out of the box.
October 6th, 2008 at 9:23 am
I am an owner of the Archos 705 160Gb WiFi and I have to say that I was hugely disappointed!
I waited for a very long time for this 7-inch screen player — the only one on the market. I need it for very long business trips overseas — flights that take 10- to 14-hours … or MORE!
Everything on the unit is OK — just OK. But the SOUND is HORRIBLE! The preset VOLUME levels are SO LOW that if you eat anything crunchy (like a pretzel) you can’t hear the dialog on the plane.
In fact, it is the Number 1 complaint among owners of the 705!
And to make matters worse, instead of acknowledging a problem and fixing it, Archos is making a statement that says, in effect, that they are following French regulatory guidelines restricting volume levels.
Hogwash!
Every other mp3 player on the market — iPod, iRiver, Creative Zen (to name a few) — ALL of far superior volume levels!
The Archos would be a great player if he had two things: 1) Volume and 2) Real concern and tech support from the company. It has neither.
By the time I got done buying everything that I wanted — the 705 WiFi, the DVR Docking Station, Extra Batteries, various Add Ons that don’t come with the Archos units — I had spent over $800.
I wasted $800 on a product that really does not cut the mustard.
By comparison, I purchased, for working out at the gym and for really quick flights of under 1 hour, an 8Gb Creative Zen, which has a 2-inch screen. The volume and sound quality blows the Archos unit away, as does the picture clarity.
The only thing the Archos is good for is the 7-inch screen.
My mistake in purchasing this unit was not waiting a while to see user reviews, not waiting until I could actually test it somewhere. I wanted a portable media player with a 100+Gb hard drive and at least a 6-inch screen so badly that I jumped at the change for the 705 WiFi.
By all accounts it should have been an awesome player.
But I am really, really disappointed in the player. And I am even more disappointed in the lack of service or any real concern on the part of Archos overall.
So, on the surface, this new product from Archos may seem like a dream, but I caution everyone STRONGLY to wait and see if it really is any good. Archos doesn’t have a great track record so far.
October 19th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
With the 7 and the new update you will see a change. I will agree that there tech support is about none.
I bought the 5 and love it. Had an earlier model and liked it also. One thing I can say is that they come out with upgrades but they take there time. And if you go to a Archos site user page you will get all the tech help that you need. But I do understand what you are saying.
I think that the price that they charge should cover all the plugins and software that goes with it. But I also have Zune and I do not like it as well. It just does not do what the Archos will do. It is two tied down with DRM to do any good and it is to hard to put your Multimedia on.